The internet has become such an integral part of life today that two out of five UK users would give up their television before their internet connection, if they had to choose between the two; according to a new survey from leading research agency, GfK NOP.

The ‘Connected Life’ study reveals that a staggering 41 per cent of UK internet users agree that “If I had to choose, I would rather keep my internet connection than my TV” – of which almost half said they ‘agree strongly’ with that statement. Only 29 per cent disagreed, and 31 per cent had no strong feelings either way.

Babita Earle, Divisional Director at GfK Technology comments:

“The results of our survey give a remarkable indication of how embedded the internet has become in our daily lives, particularly considering the television’s long established place in UK leisure time. There’s a clear shift in usage of the internet for doing more than just daily tasks – it’s becoming the key entertainment and communications platform, and will only continue to do so as new and old media continue to converge.”

The representative survey of 2,000 internet users goes on to reveal that more than half of users  (53 per cent) would ‘find it hard to function’ without their internet connection and 38 per cent are using their PC to watch TV and video content online.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, favouring internet over television is strongest amongst the 16-24 age group, where over a half (52 per cent) say they would rather lose their TV before their internet connection. “What is more interesting,” says Earle, “is that we also find a significant percentage saying the same thing in the older age groups, although driven by different usage reasons. In the 35-44 year old group, one in three (33 per cent) would rather lose their TV than their internet connection; and this jumps to two out of five (39 per cent) for the over 65’s group.”

Regional comparisons reveal some fascinating differences in attitude. Internet users in Northern Ireland express the highest propensity to choose internet over TV (58 per cent) – followed by Yorkshire & Humberside (46 per cent) and London (45 per cent). In marked comparison, the Welsh are least likely to ditch the television in favour of the internet, with just 29 per cent voting for internet over TV, and a full third (34 per cent) preferring to keep their TV.

About the survey
GfK NOP’s Connected Life survey is conducted online, interviewing 1,996 UK internet users, aged 16+, with quotas set by gender, age, region and frequency of internet access, to balance out any potential bias from frequent internet users. Correctional weighting was applied to ensure the survey was fully representative of the UK online population. Fieldwork was conducted 18 June – 8 July 2009.

For more information about the Connected Life study, please click here.

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Tags: Connected Life, Internet, PC, Research, TV